homemade advent calendar

When my brothers and I were little, we always looked forward to 1 December because my mother would bring out our Advent calendar, all stuffed with little goodies for each of us.  This is the first year I think Lydia is old enough to really understand the purpose of an Advent calendar and all the excitment and anticipation of Christmas that comes along with it, so I thought I’d make one myself for both her and Luca.  There are a million DIY versions out there, but I’ve always come back to the ones Annie has made over the years over at Most Lovely Things; this one will forever be a personal favorite, but I was so inspired by this simple one that I decided to try it myself. I absolutely love how it turned out and it couldn’t have been easier!

I bought this set of burlap favor pouches, some mini clothespins, red craft paint, Martha Stewart’s dauber set and an inexpensive number stencil from Michael’s.  The whole project took less than ten minutes, which was perfect because, of course, I left this until the eleventh hour, but the kids love it and get so excited to pull a pouch every morning!!

Hope you’re all off to a great start this week!